Caught and Escaped: An SU Alternate Take
by CartoonConshmiracy
Summary: In the Steven Universe episode Catch and Release, Peridot is unbubbled and ends up locking herself in the bathroom to keep from being attacked by the Crystal Gems... but what if she had a more effective escape plan? Rated K just in case, don't expect anything bad though.
1. Initial Escape Plan

"What's your shirt?"

"These are my banana pajamas- OW!"

With that childish move performed, the once tall and mighty looking Peridot was rushing to the bright exit of the basement where countless Gems were currently poofed and contained within bubbles, laughing in a maniacal yet silly fashion as she hopped up the roots to do so. Behind her, the equally sized but far younger half-gem chased after her to try and get her to stop, reminding her that the Crystal Gems would see her.

With an observant eye, she saw as she ran into the unfamiliar room that the Crystal Gems were all sitting around a counter, and they quickly looked at her completely baffled. Then, she turned to see what she recognized to be a door, which equalled escape in her mind. Not wanting to waste a second trying to open it with her unfortunately sized hands, she did the next best thing in order to get out: she continued running full speed and jumped, breaking through the window that was right next to the door. She got a couple of cuts from the broken glass, but nothing that prevented her from getting back up and continuing to run.

Coming to their senses, the Crystal Gems summoned their weapons and began to make chase, Amethyst going first because of her size by jumping and doing a spin-dash in midair out the window. Next came Pearl, who graciously flipped over the window, before Garnet followed by just swinging the door open and running out, managing to get to the front of the Gems pretty fast.

"W-WAIT, SHE HAS SOMETHING SHE NEEDS TO TELL US!" Steven called out to them, catching the screen door before it closed completely and beginning to try and catch up with his alien guardians.

Peridot would've never imagined herself running along the side of a cliff after jumping of a window in order to escape from a group of rebellious traitors, but she never imagined being without her limb enhancers either, so it was understandable why things were going so wrong today. From behind her, she could hear the leader of those rebels (the perma-fusion) exclaiming that they would need to split up in order to track down Peridot because of them not getting out fast enough to see which way she ran, making her snicker a bit about how easily she was getting away. She wasn't laughing as much when she heard rapid footsteps from behind her growing louder and louder, and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep running forever. She had to improvise to get out of their sights, so she thought of the plan to run to the first building she saw to hide.

That was exactly what she did- she saw the Big Donut in her sights and quickly ran to hide in the corner, just by the cute table with the umbrella on top of it. She stayed as still as possible, with the idea that they could pass by her at first so she could promptly run away again. She then overheard the sound of talking which she had to listen intently to, as she couldn't just walk over to observe them.

"I don't see why we even need her- without those limb thingies she's basically like you but way wimpier, so keeping her bubbled is like caging an angry toddler," She heard the Amethyst remark to who she assume was the Steven, with that rude remark about her being him but weaker, as he was the least powerful and smallest.

"You gotta listen Amethyst, Peridot had something she needed to say to us! She mentioned something about a cluster and it sounded bad!" He told her in response.

With a sigh, Amethyst commented as she came into Peridot's view, "Well whatever way you slice it, there really isn't anywhere she can run unless she plans on running out of the state."

The small green gem hoped that the two would both pass by her silently, but she felt clammy when the Steven made direct eye contact with her and froze. Not even saying a word, she tried to silently beg him to just keep walking and let Amethyst think she wasn't there. However, she saw who his loyalty truly was with when he grabbed Amethyst's shoulder to stop her so she could see Peridot. Luckily for the green gremlin, there was a second and a half for her to run around out of her hiding spot and start sprinting up the most-south road of Beach City.

"GET BACK HERE, WE AIN'T PLAYING NO GAMES!" Amethyst exclaimed, beginning to make chase with her whip, trying to trip her up.

In order to prevent that, she began running through yards and around various yards, eventually running into the Dewey Park where she jumped into a bush to try and hide. Luckily for her, Amethyst and Steven hadn't seen her running that direction, so they were lost on where she was.

"They don't know that I'm here," Peridot thought to herself, "but if I come out I risk being caught, so my only option is to hide until I know they aren't looking for me anymore."

She was well aware of how pointy her hair was, so she didn't think it would be wise to peek out from the bush. So, she decided the best course of action was to listen to hear if they were talking or walking around nearby, and when things were silent and safe, she would leave her hiding spot in order to... well, find any way she can get back to Homeworld. She wasn't planning all the way ahead, but she figured she'd figure it out as she went along.

After fifteen minutes of trying to pass the time by imagining how Yellow Diamond would praise her if she managed to get out of this rut and defeat the Crystal Gems when they least expect it, she suddenly heard the sound of talking just ten feet away.

"...and why is she so scared of us anyway? We're only doing what we have to, and she should be thankful we're only poofing her," Pearl remarked in a way that made Peridot want to run out and attack her if she didn't know it would result in a sword to the chest.

In response, the perma-fusion Garnet replied, "She is scared of us because she knows that she can not stand up to us without her limb enhancers, and she has every right to be. It doesn't mean she doesn't have to face the consequences of what she's done."

"Ah, well... when we do find her, let's make sure it's quick and painless! The poofing, I mean!"

After a few moments of silence, Peridot almost thought that they had simply walked out of the park, and that she was safe now. However, the bush she was hiding in was suddenly grabbed and uprooted, leaving her sitting on the ground in a patch of dirt, looking up in fear at the visor-wearing fusion and the spear-wielding Pearl.

"Before you run away- oh, why do I bother..." Pearl muttered, trying to reason with Peridot right before she promptly scuttled around and got onto her feet before trying to flee away from them.

The short gem's plan was to run through a nearby bigger bush in order to make her getaway, but she hadn't accounted for the fusion firing her gauntlet at her from behind, knocking her off of her feet and onto her stomach. Now, she had nearly landed right on her face, which for most Gems would just result in some pain; however, if she had done that, she would've cracked her Gem, resulting in corruption. This idea terrified her, so the fact that the Crystal Gems nearly did it in their attempts to simply poof her began to make her visibly shake.

"U-uh, Garnet, is she alright?" Pearl whispered to the one who had brought Peridot to the ground.

Sounding a bit peeved, Garnet muttered as she retrieved her Gauntlet and began walking toward her, "She ain't gonna be."

Her threatening intent was put aside when she caught a glimpse of Peridot's face- completely frozen in panic, with a hand over her gem protectively. When Peridot realized Garnet had been closing in on her, she grabbed a stick from the ground and held it up in front of her face in defense.

"S-stay back, I-I swear I'll-" Peridot stuttered, her plan from before now going completely out of the window with her being faced with two thirds of the Crystal Gems with nothing but a remnant of an Earth plant.

"You are not acting rationally, if you simply come with us to the Temple, we can find somewhere to put you safely- but you need to cooperate!"

In retaliation, Peridot shot back, "You don't want to keep me safe, you want to put me in a bubble again, or worse! I can't trust any of you Crystal Gems for a second!"

"Okay, clearly reasoning doesn't work with her, so how about you just restrain her and I'll-" Pearl began to offer until Garnet covered her mouth, as Garnet knew that saying what she was going to say would set Peridot off.

It was too late- she now was convinced they meant her nothing but harm, and as a last resort, she threw her stick right at Garnet's face before turning and running, not seeing how she had knocked her visor clean off and made Garnet ten times more pissed.

She narrowly dodged a spear threw at her as she made her getaway, running right through the yards of multiple houses, until she began to enter the thick forest.

She had the full intent to keep running until she knew that she had lost the two Crystal Clods trying to catch her, but she was fully aware that it wouldn't be possible for her to run without eventually growing tired. Gems may have more stamina than humans would naturally, but it isn't an endless supply, and with how small her stature is, she was guaranteed to be on the low-end of it even for a Gem. Her options were fairly limited- if she tried to stop and talk to them at this point, she felt like it was guaranteed that either one of them would take that opportunity to poof her; especially Garnet, who she managed to piss off exponentially, and who was currently shouting her name.

"Get back here, you coward," She exclaimed, "you're not solving anything right now!"

If Peridot was less wise, she would turn back and shout a remark, but for one thing, she was still panting and running between trees, which made it incredibly hard to try and speak, and she also didn't want to rile up the fusion even more. So, her mouth stayed glued shut, and she decided that in order to keep herself safe from those two gems, she needed to stop running and start hiding.

She began to weigh her options for hiding spots- if she managed to successfully climb up a tree, it could keep her from being seen, but then she'd have to try and climb back down after a while. If she failed to do so, she would fall all the way down and risk actually cracking her gem. And if she stayed up there for too long, she'd get tired, fall asleep and it'd be the same thing. Another option was to hide herself in a pile of leaves or sticks, but those were very far and between in this forest since it wasn't the fall and it wasn't like sticks just fell from trees all the time. Along with that, if she managed to find a pile of leaves/sticks to hide herself in, she still risked being stepped on and discovered as they walked around. So, she decided that there was only one hiding spot that could effectively keep her away from those two Crystal Gems without endangering herself in other ways- inside of a hollow tree. Luckily, a lot of the trees in the forest were hollow, and she soon climbed inside one and crouched down to keep her hair from being visible.

She whispered to herself softly as she kept herself low enough in the tree that her hair wouldn't poke out and become in view, "All I need to do is wait until I know that they're gone, and then I'm out of here."

Ten minutes later, she had fallen asleep, too exhausted from all the exercise she did that day to keep her eyes open any longer.


	2. An Unexpected Help

Slowly, Peridot's eyes began to open, and she saw that she was still in the same tree that she had chosen to hide in before she fell asleep, meaning that no one had found her and captured her. It was now in the early hours of the next day, and as she exited the tree and stepped onto the ground, she could feel that it was incredibly cold during these hours. That wasn't really the worst of Peridot's problems at the moment, though- since she was so focused on getting as far away from Garnet and Pearl without really focusing on getting anywhere, she had forgotten which direction she needed to go in. So, she just turned in a random direction where she saw some light shining through the trees and began journeying to get out of the forest.

"This is just spectacular," Peridot muttered to herself as she shooed away birds and bugs that flew around her, "I have no way to contact Homeworld, the only Gems around here want to poof me _or worse,_ and I don't even know _**where I'm going!"**_

In anger, she proceeded to shout and kick a nearby log, not expecting it to be so sturdy. Soon, she was hopping on one foot to try and ease the pain, nearly tripping over the log and tumbling down a hill. Something distracted her from her struggles with minor foot pain, though- she heard the sounds of small footsteps, and she noticed they didn't sound very fast or loud, indicating she wasn't being chased.

She got behind a nearby tree and began searching for who could be nearby, and found it odd that the sound suddenly stopped. Then, she turned and gasped upon seeing a human-ish child standing in front of her, shorter than Steven was, with a small tuft of hair, a white sweater, a blue shirt tied around his neck, and a baseball bat in his arms.

"D-don't attack, I am not here to harm any of you humans, I swear!" Peridot exclaimed, shielding herself, and after a moment of waiting she saw that the child had not moved, still staring at her. "Um, should I introduce myself?"

The child gave a small nod, lowering the baseball bat slightly to indicate it was not trying to threaten her.

"O-okay, then- I am a Peridot, Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, serving under Yellow Diamond's authority from Homeworld and… I'm going to assume from that look that you don't know what I'm talking about," She realized upon seeing how the child was looking knowledgeable on her terminology. "Let me make this simple for you, since it'd be quite difficult to explain all that I know without making it sound incomprehensible- Homeworld is a planet in a nearby galaxy where an 'alien' race known as Gems are made, although here on Earth many are created in certain areas, but anyways, I was created there and sent here to check on progress on something being formed deep in the Earth's crust."

This time the kid seemed to understand better, and was rather interested. However, he looked up at the sky to see clouds were forming, which was slightly troubling. He then looked at her and gestured for her to follow him before he began making his way through the forest.

"Hm, either follow a strange child I just met who might be familiar with this territory or hope that I can make it out of here safely on my own… HEY, WAIT UP!" Peridot shouted as she ran over, and she realized that he really wasn't moving all that fast, since she caught up to him in two seconds.

Never in her wildest dreams or nightmares did Peridot expect that she'd one day be wandering through a forest with a small human with no visible ears and footie pants leading her, but she was growing to realize that nothing that happens on Earth is going to be very ordinary. She was quite grateful that this child seemed to show no fear toward her, though.

It took around ten minutes, but Peridot and the small bat-wielding child left the forest, stepping onto a gravel road.

"Ah, thank you for- OH NO LOOK OUT!" She suddenly shouted when she saw a car driving down the gravel road, and the grabbed the child and jumped into the grass to avoid a collision.

The car came to a stop and the driver's window rolled down, with the driver in question being the current mayor of Beach City, and he asked with concern, "Are you two children alright? I assure you that I was driving at a safe speed without the intention of causing any harm."

"W-well, first of all, I am _not_ a child," Peridot replied as she got up and dusted herself off, "and secondly, we are both okay, although I am still currently filled with anxiety over impending danger regardless of how safe I am."

"Hey, you look like one of Steven's moms," A teen in the passenger seat remarked to Peridot.

She gasped and asked, "D-do you know where he is? I kind of don't have any other place to go, although I don't know whether I can trust his guardians to not attack me."

"Hmm, I know where he lives, yeah- but if you need somewhere safe to stay at for a while, I know someone who'll be cool with that."

This intrigued Peridot, and she decided to press on about this.

Ten minutes later, she was driven to the place the teen explained would be a good temporary place for her to stay until she is able to get back to wherever her home is, or until she feels like she'll be able to trust the Crystal Gems; as she soon found out, it was also the young baseball bat-wielding kid's home, as well as his brother and parents. She decided it'd be important to introduce herself to the residents of this place, so she was led by the small child to his brother's room where she knocked on the door nervously.

Soon, someone a bit taller than her answered the door, wearing a grayish-blue hoodie with a grey shirt underneath, orange pants, green tennis shoes, and some spiky white hair going straight up in a way reminiscent of Pearl's hair.

"Oh hey, nice hair- who're you?" The teen asked Peridot asked her.

With a nervous look, she muttered, "I-I am Peridot, I was told you'd be alright with me staying here…? Not permanently by any means, I don't expect that I'll need to stay on this planet forever, but-"

"Alright, alright, that's chill with me Peridot- do you have a nickname or is is just Peridot? My name is Sour Cream, you can sleep in my room or the living room, there's enough room for either but I know some people prefer sleeping alone," He interrupted, seeing that she seemed a bit self-conscious about asking at all.

She thought for a moment before deciding, "I think I'll need someone to talk to, so…"

"Sweet, I love company- come in, I can play you some background music while I listen to you," Sour Cream replied before heading into his room, the door wide open to show him getting his game consoles down from the shelf so he could start hooking them up to play his tunes.

At first the small green gem was nervous about being in the room of someone she just met, but she began to feel at ease, both because of his demeanor and the soothing music he started to play. She hopped onto his bed and sat down and decided to admit to how she was feeling.

"Okay, so, I feel like all my plans have completely fallen apart, and I don't know how I'm going to fix any of it, and I know that hiding from it won't make it go away but I feel like that's the only thing that I _can_ do! I don't have powers, I lost the things that made me who I was, and the only people I know anything about in this town are the ones who want to capture me!" She ranted in a huff, and she realized that he had stopped playing his music in the middle of it.

Leaning against the wall, Sour Cream admitted, "I don't know a lot about Gem stuff, but I think I got the gist of what's wrong; when I have a problem that I don't know if I can solve, I get my friends to help me out, so who do you know that can help you?"

"Heh, that's not a very long list… and most of the list is comprised of the Crystal Gems, with the other person being completely missing."

"It sounded like you're not friends with those guys, but it also seems like they're your only option for help. Maybe you can compromise, give them something they want in exchange for something you want," Sour Cream offered.

She thought about this for a moment and then sighed with her head down. "I don't know if they can get me what I want at all, either a way back home or my prized possessions back from the bottom of the ocean… wait, maybe if I give them the information I need I can use it as bribery so they can keep me safe from Homeworld when they realize I failed my mission!"

The chill teen was taken aback by her sudden spark of inspiration, but was at least glad he helped her out of her funk, and just laid back and let her come to her own conclusions.

"Okay, if this works out I get to have some new bodyguards, and if it doesn't, well… I can always stay here, right?" She asked him, and she was happy to receive a thumbs up. "I'll possibly see you later, then!"

She headed out the door and began to make her way from Sour Cream's house to where she could remember seeing the house- it was behind a cliff, so she looked for that cliff and began heading in its direction. All was well… until she heard a strike of thunder upon getting a hundred feet from where she started.


End file.
